New Work

I always enjoy seeing an artist's work in progress, so here are a few shots of my latest "river" painting: 

First, I lay down a couple of colors on the wood surface and then map out a very simple composition by painting blocks of color.  I actually rarely use a pencil to sketch out a design, but in this piece, you can see some basic lines.

I like to have the texture of the wood show through parts of my painting, so I apply thin layers of paint.  Depending on color and opacity, I primarily use Golden Fluid Acrylics or acrylic inks.  The latter is great for detail work, like the flowy lines of the river.

In between layers, I may do a little bit of sanding or scratching with an x-acto knife, which is how the the tree limbs were created.  The last stage of my painting is the addition of patterns, which gives my work a textile effect.  Sometimes I will go through a few different patterns before settling on one.  Before the stitch design in the sky, for example, I had painted cascading dots.  My husband had asked how I was able to "erase" the dots.  Fortunately, acrylic ink dries a little slower than fluid acrylics so I'm able to just use a damp cloth to wipe away the design.  If I wait a little too long, then I end up painting over the pattern.  

This finished work and the other two pieces shown above will be part of my upcoming art show at Tilde.  The work below is a new work I added to my Etsy shop.

The Gorge, mixed media on wood panel, 4 x 4 inches